Medicine Information

How Do I Choose The Best Arthritis Medicine?


Are you spending a fortune on prescription arthritis medicines? Are they helping? Are you concerned about side effects? You may think a particular drug is a miraculous godsend. Yet, someone you know may take the same dose only to experience little relief and life-threatening side effects. All of the choices can be confusing.

The best treatment for your arthritis is based on your needs. Making the diagnosis of "osteoarthritis" is fairly straightforward, but deciding what to do about it is a complex and very individualized matter. There's a wide range of options available to help you deal with OA; medicines are only part of the picture:

  • The Basics: Weight Management / Exercise / Education / Modify Activities

  • Medications: Pain Relievers, NSAIDs (like ibuprofen), Supplements

  • Injections/ Bracing

  • Surgery

The highest dose of the latest, "greatest" arthritis medicine on the market will NOT help unless you follow common-sense health practices. Focus on low-tech/low-cost habits that pay off throughout your body and quality of life. Modify the combination of remedies over your lifetime as symptoms wax and wane. Start simple, and then move to the next step if the first isn't helping. You can cut back during the times you have less pain.

At this point, available medicines can relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis, not cure it. There are some treatments for rheumatoid arthritis that can slow down joint destruction. Scientific research suggests that nutritional supplements, like glucosamine, might strengthen cartilage tissue. Stay tuned!

The dozens of arthritis medications available are categorized by drug class. The drug classes differ in the way your body handles the chemical that makes up the drug, known as the mechanism of action. Different mechanisms of action target different arthritis symptoms: pain vs. stiffness vs. inflammation. If you understand the classes, you will understand:

  • how each drug works,

  • which drugs are related because they work in a similar way,

  • what side effects can occur, and

  • why a drug may or may not be right for you.

Fortunately, there are eight drug classes to choose from to relieve your osteoarthritis symptoms. If you must avoid a whole class because you have another health condition, there are plenty of others that could keep you comfortable. Combining smaller doses from different classes may be the right answer. Usually only with prudent, thoughtful trials will you and your doctor discover what's best for you. Keep a diary of the remedies you try, and their effects, good and bad. You spend a lot of money trying to feel better - don't waste it!

Beware of your drugs' true cost! "Cost" applies not only to the money you pay for the pills, but also to the toll they could take on your system in terms of side effects like stomach ulcers, kidney failure, addiction, and other problems worth avoiding!

OA is a chronic, degenerative condition that progresses at different rates in different patients (and even in different joints in the same body!) You've got better things to do than let OA rule your day. The right treatment strategy will get you back to the Pursuit of Happiness!

Want to learn more about all EIGHT classes of OA drugs? Visit www.knowyourbones.com to order "Making Sense of Arthritis Medicine: Manage Your Symptoms Safely" and discover relief that's right for you!

About The Author

Stephanie E. Siegrist, MD is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon in her 10th year of practice, and author of "Making Sense of Arthritis Medicine." She's one of only 3% of U.S. orthopedic surgeons who are women! Dr. Siegrist strives to bridge the gaps that exist in today's doctor-patient relationship with "Information Therapy!" Complete information about Dr. Siegrist, and the book, are available from her website.


MORE RESOURCES:

CollegeOTR

LA billionaire to donate $400 mln for genomics-based research
Xinhua, China - 3 hours ago
... genomics research institute named after himself, in hopes that genomics-based medicine will provide future solutions to cure a host of human diseases. ...
Broad Increases Investment in Genomics-Based Medicine Los Angeles Business Journal (subscription)
Broads donate another $400M to Cambridge institute Boston Herald
Broad Institute Secures Futures with $400 Million Endowment Bio-IT World
CNNMoney.com - Xconomy
all 133 news articles


Concierge medical practices raising red flags for insurers
Arizona Republic, AZ - 1 hour ago
But some insurance companies are casting a wary eye toward "concierge medicine" and are warning doctors that the practice may violate the terms of their ...


Medicine's two-tier system rejected
Independent Online, South Africa - 18 hours ago
Parliament's portfolio committee on health has rejected a proposal for a two-tier system for the regulation of medicines - a step that has been welcomed by ...
Some provisions in SA medicine bill rejected SABC News
all 7 news articles


Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal ...
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, MD - 8 hours ago
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Ezio Ghigo, MD, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, ...
Twenty-Four Hour Continuous Ghrelin Infusion Augments ... Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
all 2 news articles


Resolution Health Engages Johns Hopkins Medicine for New Insights ...
StreetInsider.com (subscription), MI - 12 hours ago
4 /PRNewswire/ -- Resolution Health, Inc. has signed a consulting services agreement with Johns Hopkins Medicine that will enable Resolution Health to ...


Medicine Cabinet Abuse
TransWorldNews (press release), GA - 12 hours ago
Chances are what is in your medicine cabinet is quite different than what was in your mother’s medicine cabinet when you were growing up or even what you ...
Cocaine Use by US Young Falls; Prescription Use Up (Update2) Bloomberg
US Sen. Grassley: Must do more to limit prescription drug abuse IowaPolitics.com (press release)
Overall US drug use shows little change; declines seen for cocaine ... Minneapolis Star Tribune
all 392 news articles


Bad Medicine or bad justice?
Chicago Tribune, United States - 22 hours ago
The two young African-American physicians could have practiced medicine in more glamorous, lucrative places. They chose to work alongside their father, ...


dBTechno

Drug Scare Shenanigans
FOXNews - 13 hours ago
By Steven Milloy Why is the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine encouraging a cancer scare over the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin? ...
New England Journal of Medicine: Vytorin-Cancer Link ‘Uncertain’ Wall Street Journal Blogs
Update: Debate Over Link Between Vytorin And Cancer eFluxMedia
For Widely Used Drug, Question of Usefulness Is Still Lingering New York Times
U.S. News & World Report - Bloomberg
all 545 news articles


Raiders to play Benefit Game in Medicine Hat Tuesday
OurSports Central (press release), WI - 1 hour ago
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan - The Prince Albert Raiders in conjunction with the Medicine Hat Tigers and Western Hockey League, will play a benefit ...
Tigers to hold benefit game for Aasman Medicine Hat News
all 3 news articles


Chinese Medicine Offers Solutions During Healthy Aging Month
Coastal Post, CA - 4 hours ago
Though aging is never an easy process, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) offers many solutions to the physical and emotional strains of getting older. ...

Medicine - Google News

home | site map
© 2006